Weekly Update 3/30/2026
Weekly Update 3/30/2026 Capitol Advocacy Partners
President and Administration:
What we know about the T.S.A. and ICE presence at airports: A partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security has significantly disrupted airport operations nationwide, with TSA officers working without pay since mid-February. The lack of pay has led to widespread absenteeism and resignations, with over 500 officers quitting and thousands calling out, causing long security lines at major airports. In response, the administration deployed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)…
Congress:
FCC launches effort to onshore call centers: The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-0 last week to open a rulemaking to examine how to bring customer service call centers back to the United States and to establish English-language proficiency requirements for call center workers. The rulemaking will explore restrictions on the volume of calls handled by overseas centers, location disclosure requirements for foreign-based workers, and potential bonding requirements…
Markwayne Mullin confirmed as Homeland Security secretary: The Senate confirmed Markwayne Mullin as Secretary of Homeland Security on March 23 in a 54-to-45 vote, with nearly all Republicans and two Democrats, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) and Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), voting in support. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) broke from his party and voted against the nomination. Mullin, a Cherokee Nation member and former Oklahoma senator, takes charge of a department partially shut down since February 14…
Another senior House Republican will retire as midterm exodus grows: Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO), the 13-term chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, announced last week that he will retire at the end of his current term, becoming the latest senior House Republican to exit ahead of midterm elections. Graves, 62, has chaired the panel through several high-profile oversight efforts, including investigations into Boeing's 737 Max crashes in 2019 and 2020 and a recent…
Postal Service plans to impose 8% surcharge on packages to offset rising transportation costs: The U.S. Postal Service announced on March 25 a temporary 8% surcharge on packages set to take effect April 26 and run through January 17, 2027, citing rising fuel and transportation costs tied to the ongoing war in Iran. The surcharge will not apply to mail and must first be reviewed…
California:
Here are 10 to 15 stations that could close under BART doomsday scenarios: Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) officials are warning that significant service reductions and potential station closures could occur if voters do not approve new transit funding measures on the November ballot. Under an initial “doomsday” scenario designed to address a projected $400 million annual deficit, BART could close up to 10 stations as early as January 2027 and reduce overall train service hours by roughly 63…
Education:
Education Department interagency agreements now total 10 across five federal agencies: The U.S. Department of Education has signed 10 interagency agreements with five federal agencies since May 2025, transferring management of programs covering school safety, Title I schools, career and technical education, family engagement, and the $1.7 trillion student loan portfolio to agencies including the Treasury Department. Education Secretary Linda McMahon has framed the restructuring as reducing federal bureaucracy and returning fiscal authority to the states, though the department retains statutory responsibility for the transferred…
Education Department to leave headquarters and transfer building to Energy Department: The U.S. Department of Education announced last week that it will vacate its Lyndon B. Johnson headquarters in Washington, D.C., transferring the space to the Department of Energy, in the latest step toward downsizing the agency under the President. The building, located near the National Mall, sits 70% vacant following staff reductions of roughly half through layoffs and early retirement incentives…
Trump axes student mental health grants and one California charter suffers: The administration canceled Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration grants in April 2025, originally established during the President's first term following the 2018 Parkland school shooting, blocking schools from accessing remaining funds. The Multicultural Learning Center, a dual-language charter school in Los Angeles County, lost access to $1.9 million of a nearly $4.6 million five-year grant that had expanded…
Science of reading gets nod from House panel in literacy grants bill: The House Education and Workforce Committee unanimously approved the Science of Reading Act (H.R. 7890) earlier this month. The bipartisan bill aligns federal literacy grant programs with science of reading instruction and formally discredits the three-cueing reading model. Separately, a group of House Republicans sought to overturn Plyler v. Doe, the 1982 Supreme Court ruling guaranteeing public education access to undocumented students…